Wells v. Sanford

Hiram's will placed assets in trust for his mother Nora's support and maintenance during her lifetime, with the remainder to go to the trustee Elvan and his wife Koleta (defendants) after Nora's death. After Nora was declared incompetent and Elvan (plaintiff) became her guardian, he sought to sell Nora's own separate real estate to fund her support rather than immediately drawing on the trust; Nora's children (defendants), who would inherit nothing from either the trust or Nora's estate directly, objected and sought to have trust assets used first. The probate court found Hiram intended Nora to exhaust her own assets first so his siblings (Elvan and Koleta) would ultimately inherit more of the trust, and ordered Nora's own property sold first; Nora's children appealed.

Whether a trust directing the trustee to use trust assets as necessary for a beneficiary's support permits the trustee to make payments even though the beneficiary has sufficient separate assets of her own.